Sustainability at Nespresso

Nespresso has been an extraordinary coffee provider for people in Europe since 1986. Even though it took them 15 years to come to the US and then Canada, their ability to adapt to the different coffee drinker (creating the “american size”) has enabled them to become a staple high standard brand in the US and now Canada.

The company has proven to understand and care about their sustainability, both by developing a robust self sustaining program for their growers in Sudan and more recently with the development of their “Red and Green bag” recycling system. The program gives Nespresso club members a prepaid red postage bag for their capsules. The bags can then be dropped off at any Canada Post. The capsules are received, emptied and the aluminium is recycled while the contents can be composted.

Recycling the pods as a response to customers social responsibility concerns was a huge win for Nespresso. One and a half billion pods end up in a landfill every year in Canada, according to Norm Miller, an Ontario legislator who put forth a private member’s bill seeking a ban on non-compostable pods last year. Nespresso has created partnerships with programs like TerraCycle to promote their vision “Nespresso is committed to ensuring sustainability throughout their operations, seeking to create shared value and positive impact for farmers, consumers and society at large, while caring for the environment.”

The efforts go beyond recycling as they work towards limiting the impact of its capsules. According to its website, the company intends to source aluminum responsibly.

Lessons for Others

It is interesting to see a company that has proudly created the Positive Cup brand by ensuring that people who pay and drink their coffee know that they are supporting a responsible production. They have the resources to fund million dollar projects to ensure their coffee providers are fair and conflict free, they have the ability (and funds) to inspire  with George Clooney and Brad Pitt as known faces for the brand.

They are often proactive in their goals, however as a huge company sold in over 62 countries they are still able to adapt and react quickly to needs and changes unlike others like Keurig.

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